Read Madame Fourcade Secret War The Daring Young Woman Who Led France Largest Spy Network Against Hitler Lynne Olson 9780812994766 Books
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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The little-known true story of Marie-Madeleine Fourcade, the woman who headed the largest spy network in occupied France during World War II, from the bestselling author of Citizens of London and Last Hope Island
“Brava to Lynne Olson for a biography that should challenge any outdated assumptions about who deserves to be called a hero.”—The Washington Post
In 1941 a thirty-one-year-old Frenchwoman, a young mother born to privilege and known for her beauty and glamour, became the leader of a vast intelligence organization—the only woman to serve as a chef de résistance during the war. Strong-willed, independent, and a lifelong rebel against her country’s conservative, patriarchal society, Marie-Madeleine Fourcade was temperamentally made for the job. Her group’s name was Alliance, but the Gestapo dubbed it Noah’s Ark because its agents used the names of animals as their aliases. The name Marie-Madeleine chose for herself was Hedgehog a tough little animal, unthreatening in appearance, that, as a colleague of hers put it, “even a lion would hesitate to bite.”
No other French spy network lasted as long or supplied as much crucial intelligence—including providing American and British military commanders with a 55-foot-long map of the beaches and roads on which the Allies would land on D-Day—as Alliance. The Gestapo pursued them relentlessly, capturing, torturing, and executing hundreds of its three thousand agents, including Fourcade’s own lover and many of her key spies. Although Fourcade, the mother of two young children, moved her headquarters every few weeks, constantly changing her hair color, clothing, and identity, she was captured twice by the Nazis. Both times she managed to escape—once by slipping naked through the bars of her jail cell—and continued to hold her network together even as it repeatedly threatened to crumble around her.
Now, in this dramatic account of the war that split France in two and forced its people to live side by side with their hated German occupiers, Lynne Olson tells the fascinating story of a woman who stood up for her nation, her fellow citizens, and herself.
“Fast-paced and impressively researched . . . Olson writes with verve and a historian’s authority. . . . With this gripping tale, Lynne Olson pays [Marie-Madeleine Fourcade] what history has so far denied her. France, slow to confront the stain of Vichy, would do well to finally honor a fighter most of us would want in our foxhole.”—The New York Times Book Review
Read Madame Fourcade Secret War The Daring Young Woman Who Led France Largest Spy Network Against Hitler Lynne Olson 9780812994766 Books
"This book is riveting.
Individuals from different backgrounds, some military and some not, largely without prior espionage training, came together in a French resistance network that played a large role in assuring Allied victory in the Second World War.
Among their achievements—obtaining and transmitting to the British secret plans for Germany’s V-1 flying bomb and V-2 rocket (which ultimately helped assure the success of the Normandy invasion).
Marie-Madeleine Fourcade and the agents of her Alliance network did this while being hunted by the Gestapo. And they did it despite infighting among the Allies.
Fourcade overcame the doubts of her male recruits that a woman could run the single most significant resistance network in France.
Lynne Olson makes the reader feel as close to the action as possible, without actually being in the same room with Fourcade and her agents.
The author weaves together the background, conduct, and emotions of the agents at the center of the story. The anxiety that constantly shadowed them is palpable.
With each twist in the tale, she will leave you wondering what will happen next."
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Madame Fourcade Secret War The Daring Young Woman Who Led France Largest Spy Network Against Hitler Lynne Olson 9780812994766 Books Reviews :
Madame Fourcade Secret War The Daring Young Woman Who Led France Largest Spy Network Against Hitler Lynne Olson 9780812994766 Books Reviews
- Marie-Madeleine Fourcade was born into a wealthy and prominent French family with an illustrious history and all the right social connections. For her first thirty years she led an unremarkable life treading the path expected of her early marriage, children, and not much else. But then history caught up with her. In 1940 Germany invaded France and much of Western Europe. With Marie-Madeleine's connections she could have easily made her way to safety and spent the war living comfortably. She was made of sterner stuff. She became first the deputy and then the prime leader of the most successful French underground intelligence network, Alliance, and spent the war years in frequent peril of her life, providing vital information to the British, American, and Free French forces. Lynne Olson has written a series of excellent histories illuminating lesser known aspects of the World War II era, and Madame Fourcade's Secret War is one of her best.
Marie-Madeleine's sex, social position, and beauty were both assets and liabilities. Very few men outside of her intelligence network took her seriously or believed her to be capable of anything underhanded or devious. As a result she was often able to pull off diabolically cunning intelligence coups right under the noses of the German military. When she was captured and held prisoner she escaped in a series of hair-raising adventures that rival anything Ian Fleming or Frederick Forsyth ever wrote. Other women in her network had similar successes, including Jeannie Rousseau, whose apparent wide-eyed innocence led German officers to discuss secret military plans in her presence, and who was thus able to alert the British to the dangers of Hitler's missile research at Peenemunde. Unfortunately, after the war the roles played by Marie-Madeleine, Jeannie Rousseau, and many other brave women were discounted by the male officers and historians who established the official record, and it was not until many years had passed that they began to receive the recognition they were due.
This was one of those books I could not put down. Marie-Madeleine managed to get herself into so many alarming scrapes and adventures that I had to keep reading to learn how she would finally turn disaster into triumph. I came away from the book with a renewed appreciation for the bravery and dedication of the many women and men of the French Resistance who fed vital information to the Allies during some of the darkest moments of World War II. And in future, if I am ever tempted to believe that the exploits of fictional spies are too sensational to believe, I'll remember Marie-Madeleine Fourcade, and recognize that the truth is stranger yet. - This book is an absolute must-read for those interested in the art of espionage and for those interested in World War II history. I must admit that over the course of many, many years, I had forgotten some of these important places in Europe. .
La patronne (the boss), Madame Fourcade, and the Alliance Network grew from a handful of agents to over 3000 at the end of World War II. An astounding fact to me, is that 20 percent of these agents were female. My thought after reading this extraordinary book, was that Madame Fourcade was indeed underestimated by the Germans because she was a female. A real error on their part.
To paraphrase Navarre, she had the memory of an elephant, the cleverness of a fox, the guile of a serpent, ...and the fierceness of a panther. Madame Fourcade epitomized a true leader in all aspects and those in her network had to accept a female as their leader. (I kept thinking back to my USN career while reading this book and remembering what a leader meant ...loyalty, ability to make decisions, the ability to train and develop subordinates, and competence. So, yes, she exemplified all of the qualities of being a leader to me.
The book is divided into three separate time frames 1936 to 1942/1943 to 1944 and 1944 to 1945. Sixteen thousand resistance fighters were arrested during this war. In each of these time frames, the reader is able to witness the bravery and leadership skills of this woman. She was adept at eluding the Germans and starting in November of 1942, she evaded them by changing locations 8 different times. Truly astounding...
The agents recruited by the Alliance included Lysander pilots, military officers, radio operators, forgers, social workers, seamstress. observers and many more....a variety of society's classes. And, each of these agents performed their duties in an exemplary matter. Madame Fourcade was not a politician and adamantly avoided these discussions, when possible. As for Madame Fourcade, close calls beyond belief and yet, she carried on...
I appreciated the fact that pictures were in the text of some operatives. And, the Zoom was in effect as an added feature so one could see their faces more clearly. Always nice to put a face with a name..
So what motivated Madame Fourcade to become an agent in the first place? Did she have a family she left behind? Interesting questions and they are answered in this book.
Most highly recommended. - This book is riveting.
Individuals from different backgrounds, some military and some not, largely without prior espionage training, came together in a French resistance network that played a large role in assuring Allied victory in the Second World War.
Among their achievements—obtaining and transmitting to the British secret plans for Germany’s V-1 flying bomb and V-2 rocket (which ultimately helped assure the success of the Normandy invasion).
Marie-Madeleine Fourcade and the agents of her Alliance network did this while being hunted by the Gestapo. And they did it despite infighting among the Allies.
Fourcade overcame the doubts of her male recruits that a woman could run the single most significant resistance network in France.
Lynne Olson makes the reader feel as close to the action as possible, without actually being in the same room with Fourcade and her agents.
The author weaves together the background, conduct, and emotions of the agents at the center of the story. The anxiety that constantly shadowed them is palpable.
With each twist in the tale, she will leave you wondering what will happen next. - This is Jim’s wife, Glenna, commenting on this incredible book.
I will gladly recommend this to any man or woman who likes the intrigue of war and strategy; just a warning - it’s very hard to put down!!
